★★

“has some interesting ideas but currently falls short on delivery”

The Great Gatsby is a tale of the hollowness of Jazz Age America. Unfortunately, the wrong kind of hollowness comes through in this outdoor musical adaptation despite the cast’s best efforts.

Staged in the expansive OVO Roman Theatre, this adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel is reimagined as a cabaret show in the ‘Green Light Club’. With cabaret performers Texas, Gus, Belle and Helen narrating and performing, expect a slightly different version of events as Gatsby’s blind determination to reclaim his lost love, Daisy, is met with fatal consequences.

Adapted and produced by Mark O’Sullivan, the writing shines brightest when it sticks to the source material. Otherwise, several narrative choices hamper rather than enhance the storytelling. The cabaret setting doesn’t land: it isn’t always clear when the new characters are narrating versus performing, and having them narrate instead of Nick (even though he’s in the room) removes his much-needed critique. I know it’s a cabaret but why is a magician telling Gatsby’s backstory? Why does the explosive climax start out as a silent movie? This. plus moving key moments around, such as Daisy’s devastating hopes for her daughter, completely change the tone and lessen their emotional impact. Some of the writing even feels a little clumsy, such as Jordan asking Nick to lunch while standing over a dead body, an overly blunt expression of coolness. The result is a rather confusing mishmash of story beats which doesn’t quite do the iconic plot justice.

Kelly Ann Stewart’s direction brings out some strong performances but also has its flaws. For example, the blocking needs work, obscuring the words to the all-important silent movie. Just before Gatsby meets his fate, he walks into Wilson’s garage which hasn’t existed in Gatsby’s world until now. Ryan Munroe’s simple choreography could be more sharply executed, leaving the cabaret scenes feeling a little lacklustre. Perhaps the most confusing moment in the piece comes when Nathan French, playing both Gatsby and Wilson, has to quick change between the two, necessitating a drawn-out cover by an excessively slow-moving bullet (clearly drawn from Hamilton by the way) during what should be the dramatic climax.

Musical Director and pianist Andrew McCormack tries to bring out the roaring twenties but the choice and locations of several songs interrupt the flow. Some feel jarring and undo the emotional tension, such as Gatsby bursting into ‘I Got Rhythm’, the cast singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Nick, and ‘This Little Light of Mine’ opening Act 2. In fact, only one song adds to the plot, a drunken, mournful song from a female reveller during one of Gatsby’s parties.

The costumes (Ciéranne Kennedy-Bell and Thea Peacock) sometimes obscure where we are and lack cohesion, especially in the club scenes. Hannah Stanley’s sound is well designed but not always well executed, missing several mic cues. Caitlin MacGregor’s lighting creates some very dramatic moments but could separate the club from the main story more effectively. Simon Nicholas’ set design effectively creates different spaces, my favourite being Dr Eckleburg’s otherworldly eyes glowing in the distance.

The cast’s acting is this production’s saving grace. French skilfully contrasts Gatsby’s superficial coolness against Wilson’s crudeness and even manages to subtly let Gatsby’s mask slip. Rochelle Jack brings out a full spectrum of emotions in her stripped-down Myrtle, with a rich singing voice to boot. Jonathan Tynan-Moss’ Nick is perfectly naive and knowing, delivering a moving performance. Though the standout is Jessica Vickers’ Daisy, a mesmerising kaleidoscope of honest and affected emotions with an impressive singing voice to match.

Overall, this production has some interesting ideas but currently falls short on delivery. Future versions would benefit from refocusing the cabaret more clearly around the plot and considering the choice and timing of musical numbers to keep building the emotional pressure. These adjustments would help this capable cast shine as brightly as that elusive green light.

THE GREAT GATSBY at the Cockpit Theatre

★★★

“the repercussions of Jay Gatsby’s gender swap are not fully explored in an otherwise faithful revival of the story”

F Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” needs no introduction. The title has entered the language to the extent that everybody now thinks they own a slice of it. Since its publication nearly a century ago it has been the subject of intense analysis, numerous adaptations and various eclectic interpretations. Even the word ‘Gatsby’ was added to the Collegiate Dictionary in 2003. So prolific is its presence that any new presentation, like with the works of Shakespeare, is under pressure to find a new way of looking at it.

Scar Theatre, the Oxford based collective, have grabbed the challenge with both hands by making ‘he’ a ‘she’. The concept appears to be its main selling point so it’s no big reveal or spoiler. It is potentially a fascinating angle to take, although the repercussions of Jay Gatsby’s gender swap are not fully explored in an otherwise faithful revival of the story. Nick Carraway (Ethan Bareham) remains the narrator, slipping into and out of the action as he relates his memories of that long hot summer to his analyst – a device ‘borrowed’ from Baz Luhrmann.

Bareham’s is a natural performance, capturing the essence of Nick Carraway – the unwitting and slightly baffled hero in a world where he doesn’t belong. A slight figure who hints at just the right amount of disdain for the careless people that surround him. Particularly Roman Pitman’s Tom Buchanan; a two-dimensional bully who neither deserves, nor quite pulls off, the whiff of innate privilege that follows him like an unpleasant odour. Lily Carson, as Daisy Buchanan, has the stiffness that serves her well in her cheerless marriage, but she somehow fails to loosen up sufficiently when reunited with the so-called love of her life in Gatsby.

A nod to queerness and feminism, it remains just that; with not enough exploration to earn its advertised status. Emily Serdahl, in the title role, cuts a formidable figure that affirms her ability to succeed ‘in a man’s world’, yet it is impossible to believe that her ambition stems from a deep longing for Daisy. As a pair, their declarations of love are often words without spark or real meaning. We also grapple with the credulity of Gatsby’s backstory (her serving as an officer in the Great War by impersonating a man – for example) which is repeatedly brushed aside rather too efficiently.

There are atmospheric moments, aided by Vanessa Silva’s movement direction and Finley Bettsworth’s moody lighting. The underside of the American Dream is vividly portrayed during the brief visits to Fitzgerald’s ‘Valley of Ashes’. Fitzroy ‘Pablo’ Wickham, as the murderously doomed mechanic George Wilson, is both pitiable and menacing – spoilt only by the writers’ tinkering with the final showdown that dilutes the sense of tragedy. It is a clumsy moment that interrupts the natural momentum of a show that elsewhere ebbs and flows like an unreliable memory. Such inconsistencies do show up quite starkly against the stylised background.

Peter Todd and Mina Moniri (the co-writers and co-directors) have set out to emphasise the queerness that is more covert in the original novel – a subject that has spawned countless debates over the last century. Nick Carraway’s sexuality has been hotly speculated over. This is hinted at here, but like Gatsby’s sapphic makeover, it is more of an abstraction. We are left wanting more. Daisy’s childhood friend Jordan Baker goes some way to addressing this. Played with an impressive, detached coolness by Danielle Nnene, she quietly challenges Gatsby’s motives, yet the credulity is again hindered by Gatsby’s gender.

What survives, though, is the clarity of the story telling. The energy of the parties is matched by the despondency of the underlying wasteland that Fitzgerald prophesised was on the horizon. And much of the iconic original text is intact in this production that does, in fact, underline the ongoing and ceaseless relevance of “The Great Gatsby” in the present day.

Tag Archives: The Great Gatsby

THE GREAT GATSBY

★★

OVO at the Roman Theatre

THE GREAT GATSBY

OVO at the Roman Theatre

★★

“has some interesting ideas but currently falls short on delivery”

THE GREAT GATSBY

OVO at the Roman Theatre

Reviewed on 11th August 2025

by Hannah Bothelton

Photography by Elliott Franks

Previously reviewed at this venue:

ROMEO AND JULIET | ★★★ | June 2023

THE GREAT GATSBY

THE GREAT GATSBY

THE GREAT GATSBY

THE GREAT GATSBY

★★★

Cockpit Theatre

THE GREAT GATSBY at the Cockpit Theatre

★★★

“the repercussions of Jay Gatsby’s gender swap are not fully explored in an otherwise faithful revival of the story”